Signed, Anonymous
by Kayseetwin
Summary: Post-Finale. When both Rory and Jess are convinced into signing up for an anonymous online dating website, what will happen?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yes, I'm back. And I know I should be working on TSA, but unfortunately, this has been distracting me for weeks. I've been wanting to do it for ages, and I had half of it written, but I only just now got up the nerve to do it. Reward me for posting it and review? **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Gilmore Girls, I'd have many more shoes. Seeing as I have four pairs, it's safe to assume that I don't own.**

**Enjoy!**

"Please Rory?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Please please please!"

"The answer is still no Mom."

"Oh c'mon. Loinfruit! Lovely little fruit of my loins! Please? Just a tiny little favor for my mommy?"

An annoyed sigh escaped from Rory Gilmore, her blue eyes rolling as she chastised her mother.

"You have no shame. Why do I even need to do this again?"

Lorelai Gilmore, mother to Rory and currently the person with no shame, spotted the signs of her daughter's resolve weakening.

"It's that blonde woman again. The annoying one with too much perfume. Remember? She stayed at the Inn a while back, while you were helping out during one of your days off. Well, she certainly remembers you and I. And apparently, she started an online dating service. Her memory of us, beautiful as we are, stuck with her, and she felt that we would be the perfect people to help test run the dating service. Seeing as I am currently dating Luke, this is impossible for me. But she won't stop bugging me about getting you to do it. Save mommy's sanity loinfruit! Sign up for me," begged Lorelai, her identical sets of blue orbs meeting her child's.

Rory grimaced at her mother. This argument had been carried out for well over the week that Rory had been in town from between stops of the campaign trail. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be going away like she had hoped it would after the initial first day of repeatedly shouting "NO!" at her mother. In fact, her incessant pleading seemed to have grown far worse and the pleas only louder as Rory's destined departure grew closer. Desperation made her mother shameless, although Rory had already figured that much out.

Sighing again, Rory questioned further, still cautious. "Is the site safe? Viruses? Are they going to be letting anyone on? Is it anonymous?"

"The site is safe, no viruses, they will require background checks for those who use it, which means it's exclusive. It's restricted to the East Coast area anyway, so it's even more exclusive. You get invited, you don't get to join. And yes, it is anonymous. Only the people in control of the service know who is who. You can choose if you want to reveal who you are and where you live to whomever you get paired up with. It's your decision."

Running a hand through her hair, Rory let out a long breath. "Okay. I'll sign up for Hart2Hart. But if I get kidnapped…"

"I'll make sure to pack you a lunch," Lorelai supplied, a grin alighting on her face.

* * *

A similar conversation, although at a much slower pace was currently being held at the offices of Truncheon Books, somewhere in Philadelphia.

"Look, Jess, Hart2Hart promised to give us advertising on their site if only one of us would join," said the first young man, Chris, his voice reasonable, as if speaking to a child.

"You know how much Truncheon needs this, Jess. And you're the only one single enough to do this! Plus, you're very pretty," appealed the other man, Matt.

"Isn't it an anonymous website?" A nod came from Matt. "Then no one will know what I look like. Complimenting my looks is getting you nowhere in this argument, moron," said the third male in the group, rolling his eyes at the now humbled Matt.

Adamant as he was, Jess felt the truth behind his co-workers words. Truncheon_ did_ need this, and it _would_ help advertise. Running a hand through his hair, he muttered something along the lines of "Fine," to which was responded to by joyous whoops from both friends.

"You're gonna get a lady friend!" sing-sang Matt, twirling around the room giddily.

Shaking his head, Jess only wondered what the hell he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

"What's your name going to be?"

"Well, Mother. Look at the empty box with the little line blinking in front of it. The emptiness would normally indicate that I had yet to decide on one," said Rory, her tone already tired as she looked at the box.

"It looks so sad and lonely," Lorelai said, a pout appearing on her lips. "Oh! I know! Loinfruit! That could be your username!"

"Oh yes, because not only is it completely attractive, but I mean, how could someone resist a name that included their mother's loins and fruit? That's a sure way to find a male suitor."

Lorelai giggled. "Hehe. Male suitor," she snickered, earning her a glare from Rory.

"I just want it to convey the right message across. I don't want to seem like a mommy's girl, –"You are a mommy's girl!" – But I don't want to seem like I'm too uptight or selfish or ugly or-"

"Rory! Sweet, sweet, obsessive Rory! Just pick a name that sums you up well. You're putting way too much thought into this," soothed the elder Gilmore, still struggling to hide her giggles. "What are some nicknames you've had in the past?"

"Uhm…Well. Logan called me Ace. And Finn and Colin and the rest of the LDB called me Reporter Girl. Oh, and at Chilton, they called me Mary." Despite the year that Logan and Rory had been broken up, Rory still felt a pang at his name. Loneliness was becoming a factor in her life that constantly led her to regret over not being in a relationship. Not that she regretted saying no to Logan. At times though, she realized that she missed being with someone, in a selfish, immature way.

"Hm…Reporter Girl. Decent, but associated with an ex. Mary and Ace are not even close to options. Next?"

Thinking harder, Rory grinned. Typing quickly, she gave a smug smirk at her choice, ignoring the feelings that the name swirled up as she looked at it on her screen. Somehow, it just didn't seem to fit into that little box, like a word that summed up so many conversations could easily fit into four digital lines.

Looking over her shoulder, Lorelai tilted her head to the side, confused. "Where did that come from?"

* * *

"Show me the website," Jess ordered Matt, resigned to his fate of becoming an online dater.

Obeying, Matt typed in the web address, a grin alighting his features as Jess visibly blanched at the sight of the hearts on the page. Muttering something about the silliness of hearts, Jess clicked the register button.

Annoying Task Number One: A username.

Sighing, he looked at the keys questioningly, hoping they'd give him an easy answer. He had an idea swirling in his head about a username, but somehow, he was afraid. What if she used this? What if she saw him, knew that he still lov-

No. She wouldn't use this. She probably had guys tripping over themselves to flop at her feet, hoping she'd choose them. Shrugging, he typed in the name, thankful that the site was relatively new, and choices were probably unlimited.

"What kind of name is that?" Chris questioned him, but Jess ignored him easily. What kind of name was it, indeed.

**A/N: REVIEW and find out what the names are! I'm pretty sure you can Jess' name, but Rory's name is a tad more difficult to remember.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: YAY! New chapter! I'm trying to be good about updating, so yay me! Many of you guessed correctly on their usernames. If you did, congratulations! You've officially watched wayyy too much Gilmore Girls, like me! Aren't you excited? Anyway, read it and leave me a little review, please oh please? Happy Fourth of July, for all you Americans out there!**

**Disclaimer: Shoes. Remember the shoes.**

**Enjoy!**

"What do you mean? What's wrong with it?" Rory's voice was indignant, immediately defensive of the simple memory that the name brought. Her mother, sensing the rise in her tone, backed off.

"I just meant…Booktease is kind of an unusual name. I never heard anyone call you that," Lorelai explained carefully, her tone soothing, as if she was speaking to a deer that could startle easily, and at any second. Lorelai's curiosity soon got the better of her, and she repeated her question. "Where did you get it from? Lane?"

"No," came the quiet reply.

"Paris?"

"No."

"Logan?"

"He called me Ace, mom."

"Oh yeah…..Dean?" The last man's name was spoken with a curious animosity, venom almost spewing with it, passing through her lips like an unpleasant taste.

"Of course not," Rory replied, a venom that matched Lorelai's in her voice as well. For both, the name was followed with unpleasant memories of a time where neither were talking to the other, their relationship strained at best. Although not as major as The Fight, it was still looked back on with remorse and regret.

"Then…Jess?"

The final name was surprisingly free of any inclination of hatred. Instead, a look of thanks directed silently to Jess was extended, an olive branch to soothe years of struggle. It was one of acceptance, that maybe, Lorelai was wrong.

In the younger Gilmore, the name rang in her ears. His voice penetrated her thoughts and with a pang, the hurt rushed back. Whether at him or herself, Rory could not know, but it was there. Like white noise in the back of her mind, he was always there. She never truly heard it anymore until nights like this when she gave in to the memories. The noise unconsciously left her half-deaf, until she no longer knew it was there, but to anyone else it was loud and blaring unforgivingly into their ears.

Giving a slight nod in answer to her mother's question, Rory fiddled with the mouse, tracing her memories back to the day where the name was given. The events that followed were only the beginning of a downward spiral that led to the end of their relationship.

Lorelai stared at her daughter's face, the pain (and yet a small flicker of a smile) obvious on her face. Rory was an open book with her emotions, now was no different. It was easy to see that Rory had yet to let the one man who had ever truly broken her heart go.

"Huh."

* * *

"So, Jess. Tell us. What's the name mean?"

"Read a book. Maybe you'll figure it out," a sarcastic voice shot back, laced with annoyance.

Matt and Chris, upon reading the username over his shoulder, were both incessantly pestering him. They had managed to continue the questioning for several minutes now and Jess was becoming more and more inclined to just tell them, rather than endure this for much longer.

"Pretty please Jessie," begged Matt theatrically, falling on to his knees with a goofy grin on his face.

"Shut up and I'll tell you," Jess said finally, giving in with an audible sigh.

Both obediently went silent, waiting patiently for Jess to speak. They reminded him of puppies, and he was almost tempted to ask one of them to roll over.

"So, you know the dedication from The Subsect?"

"The one about the girl?" Matt interrupted, shortly followed with a punch from Chris and a muttered lecture about not saying anything.

"Yes, the dedication girl. Well…Her name is Rory. She's…well, she's Rory. There's no one like her," he muttered sadly, ignoring the knowing glances Chris and Matt shot at each other.

"The first time we talked, and I mean had a conversation not around her insane mother, I was giving her back a book, that I may have accidently taken without asking. She called me Dodger, from Oliver Twist, challenging me to figure it out. I did. That was kind of the moment I realized that I lov-"

Hesitating, Jess ran a hand through his hair, defensiveness now in place from the rather odd burst of honesty. "Well, that was kinda the start. But I like the comparison, hence the username," he muttered, hiding his emotion with a sigh.

Acknowledging that this would be the last that they would hear about the mysterious Rory-Dedication-Girl for the night, they stood in sync, clapping Jess on the shoulder as they left him to brood and finish his account.

Resting his head on the cool wood of his table, Jess cursed Charles Dickens.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Aren't you just bouncing off the walls right now? I am. I'm so thrilled at this very moment (and now I have Thriller in my head). I didn't think I'd get this chapter out as soon as I am (I was at a horse show, actually), so I'm struggling through massive sleep deprivation for you lovely readers. Imma try to respond to your reviews soon, but…you know how it is. Anyway, epicly long rant over. Enjoy and review!**

**PS: I know many of you want me to be longer, and I really am trying! But these chapters are going to get longer. I've got to do the boring laying the groundwork stuff. R/J interaction coming soon!**

**Disclaimer: Let's get some shoes!**

Rory Gilmore was confused.

Computers did not seem to like her, it seemed. She could handle typing and using Microsoft Word and such, but now it was an entirely new challenge to navigate this dating service thing. It irked her that she, the modern woman, was struggling to set this up. Eventually though, after a few mumbled threats and curses hidden under her breath (that made her sound remarkably like Luke) she was successful in filling in most of her personal information.

Lorelai, bringing in a cup of coffee, to which Rory nabbed gratefully, grinned at the unanswered ADDRESS box.

"Make it say Mom's House."

Rory shot a glare at her before replying. "Oh yes. Because that would strike everyone as normal."

Lorelai nodded seriously. "Might as well be honest kiddo. You can't leave me."

Turning back to the computer, she typed in the address of her mom's house, ignoring Lorelai's shouts of joy at seeing their address on the screen. Clicking the next button, she was sentenced to a detailed explanation of how the questions worked. She read it carefully, making sure to miss nothing in the instructions.

Basically, she had to answer a ton of questions now, and then when she first IMed her first match and then every time they began talking to each other, they each had to choose one of the answers to reveal. The questions would range in difficulty level on how to answer it, something Rory did not revel in partaking in.

Sighing, she continued to the questions page, letting out a groan as she viewed the large amount of questions awaiting her.

Once more glaring at Lorelai, she muttered, "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

First question: Do you like to read?

Rory grinned at this, immediately checking yes. Another box appeared under this, asking her what her favorite book was. She considered it for a moment, before looking at the screen name at the top of her screen. Considering this for a moment, she typed in "Oliver Twist."

This was going to take much longer than she anticipated…

* * *

If there was one thing in the world Jess Mariano hated, it was computers. He avoided them at all costs. The Subsect was written on yellow notebook paper that cost him 64 cents at a rundown gas station. All of his work was done by hand, his reviews done in red ink, ect. He had very little experience with computers, making this new situation extremely difficult.

He glared at the computer. "Work , dammit."

When that didn't seem to work, he shifted the mouse around, finding the arrow. The first parts were easy, (gender, date of birth, and more pointless questions). He filled in Truncheon for his address, hoping to god that Hart2Hart wouldn't actually send him something, for fear that Matt or Chris would immediately opening it. They were not known for their respect for privacy, as proven on many, many occasions.

The next page brought him to an instruction page, which he immediately skipped. He had no intention of painstakingly reading over this crap. He'd figure it out himself, he figured stubbornly.

Moving on, he was alarmed at the amount of questions he was now going to be forced to answer.

He flicked his eyes to the first question.

Do you like to read?

He checked yes, and jumped when another box appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He glanced around, making sure no one was around to witness his slight humiliation, before reading the contents of the magically appearing box.

Rubbing his chin, he sighed. Favorite book, hmm?

He considered his options.

One: He could be honest and write the book he connected to the most, Oliver Twist. Of course, then he risked looking like the only book he had read was Oliver Twist.

Two: He could lie and pick a different book.

Shrugging, he picked the first option, then continued on through the questions.

Both clicked finish at the end of their answering sprees, waiting with annoyance and excitement for their matches, both secretly kind of nervous.

**End.**

**Hope you enjoyed! Remember: Longer chapters/interaction coming soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: After a horribly long amount of time, I'm BACK! I've been incredibly busy what with summer assignments, work and two vacations coming up (this week and next week). Anyway, hope you enjoy! Reviews are very strongly encouraged. Also, I have a question to ask for all of you. Would you like me to continue writing all of the RJ convos, some of them, or just skip to a few days later and add some of their conversations, but not all? I'd love your feedback.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except dirty thoughts about Jess.**

Drumming her fingers on the table, Rory sighed impatiently. The results were taking much longer than necessary to come in, that was for sure. When they finally popped up, she was granted with the top five matches. Immediately yelping for Lorelai, she giggled at a few of the names. The screen read:

_TheReader_

_Dodger_

_Sk82Live_

_PirateMan203_

_CheckMate_

Reading over her shoulder, Lorelai snorted. "Skate to live? What kind of name is that?"

"A name for someone who obviously enjoys skating," Rory replied, her eyes never leaving the screen. 'Dodger' huh? It was ironic that twice now she'd thought of her ex, who she hadn't spoken to in two years, in the same day. She was careful to disclose memories of him from ever penetrating her mind, and now she was stuck with this name staring at her. It sucked.

Rory snapped back to her senses just in time to hear Lorelai say "You're not talking to Mister Skate. Mister Pirate could be Johnny Depp, so make sure you're extra nice to him. But no Skate dude."

Grinning, Rory nodded, appeasing her mother's insanity. "I will be extra nice to Pirate Man, I promise. But I have to talk to all of them, mom. It's kind of the rules. You go in order and talk to each one. If you ever decide that said person is not the right one for you, you decline him."

Clicking TheReader, she was brought to an IM screen. Thankfully, Rory had caught TheReader while he was online, a mixed blessing. She smiled when she heard the first ping. He had IM'ed her!

_TheReader: Hey_

_Booktease: Hey yourself._

"He didn't use a period," Lorelai commented, reading over her shoulder.

"Mom, must you peer over my shoulder?" Rory asked, rolling her eyes at her mother's antics.

"Yes," came the stubborn reply.

_TheReader: How old are you?_

"Well, he's not much for small talk, is he?" Lorelai said,becoming slightly wary.

_Booktease: Older than 18, younger than 30._

A brief delay occurred before TheReader replied. Finally, the _ping_ came.

_TheReader: Send a pic of you._

_TheReader: No top on._

Yelping, Rory hit the 'Decline Match' button on the side of the screen. "Yuck. Perv."

"Come on Rory, take your top off. I'm desperate Rory, come on," Lorelai mocked, her voice slightly breathless from laughing so hard.

"Yeah yeah yeah, Mom. Whatever. Let's hope the pervyness ends here," Rory said, frowning at the screen.

Clicking the next name, she bit her lip, before sending her message.

* * *

Jess was having an extremely difficult time understanding this stupid website. He'd cursed at it several times before it finally loaded his matches, and then he was forced to go back and thoroughly read the instructions, much to his chagrin. When he figured it out, he clicked back to his matches screen.

_PrtyGrl1_

_Booktease_

_JudyG_

_Pinky_82_

_J._

Sighing, he clicked the first match, typing into the IM box.

_Dodger: Hey._

_PrtyGrl1: hi_

Jess's need to edit her lousy, uncapitalized 'hi' had to be stifled before he was able to move past it, and he winced at her next question.

_PrtyGrl1: how r u?_

Clicking 'Decline Match' angrily, he crossed his arms, already annoyed at the dating website. THAT was his first match? The next one had better have an idea where the caps lock button was or he was going to have a very serious talk with Matt and Chris.

Startled out of his anger induced haze, he looked at the computer from which a noise had sounded. His second match, Booktease, had IMed him.

Booktease…where had he heard that before? It irked him that he remembered it from somewhere and yet couldn't remember from where exactly. He knew that it would bother him, but instead clicked on the box, opening the IM he had received.

_Booktease: I'm not going to send you a picture with my top off._

_Booktease: Just so you know._

Grinning, Jess chuckled aloud. With an opening line like that, he didn't think he'd be able to say no to this girl.

_Dodger: Duly noted._

_Dodger: I assume you're having tons of luck on here then._

There. Jess was proud of his answers. Sarcastic, charming, witty. How could anyone resist an opening line like that? Matt and Chris would be proud. Or ashamed of his ego.

_Booktease: Oh yeah. Tons. I expect to find a husband on here any time now._

Raising an eyebrow, Jess allowed himself to laugh lightly. So far, he liked this girl, all things considered. She reminded him of an ex he had, whose name would not be thought of by him. He wouldn't allow it. Either way, her wit was interesting. This one would probably stick around longer than the last, or so he hoped.

At least she knew where the caps lock button was.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Heh. Yeah. I'm back. Did I mention how sorry I am for basically giving up on this story? I just got so frustrated with the plot and the angle I wanted to take with this story that I put it off, and then when I was in the mood to write again I was both too disgusted with some of what I wrote and too involved into my school year to bother. I plan to change that, and I apologize again. Also, reviews get updates faster. I am not immune to guilt trips PS: Check out the oneshot I posted (Kiss it Better) for something to satisfy you in the meantime!**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing except horribly dirty thoughts of Milo. **

It wasn't difficult for Rory to slowly begin to grasp the basics of Hart2Hart. The thrill she got as a result of merely logging on was getting a little too silly for her normally sensible self to handle, especially over an online beau. But despite her tentative grasp on reality, she couldn't help but be completely over the moon every time she saw him online. Days passed by, with the two talking incessantly. When IM grew to be too difficult to manage on a day-to-day basis with their tight schedules, they mutually agreed to buy pay-as-you-go phones, which was a way for both to manage the anonymous restrictions that both were a blessing and a curse. While Rory wanted to know the identity of her newest friend, she also didn't want to find out that the man (she hoped Dodger was a man) was a fat, old hairy dude with a hunchback and a lot of cats. She shared these fears with him, and while he assured her he was nothing of the kind, although he might be getting a hunchback from reading manuscripts too much, he did agree with the anonymous portion of their agreement, or at least for the time being.

Something that was quickly becoming obvious to the quirky brunette, however, was the honest-to-god chemistry between them. He'd read nearly every book she had ever encountered, their music taste meshed completely and got the Lane Kim stamp of approval, and even more importantly, he was easy to talk to. She found herself laughing out loud as he described the insanity of his co-workers, grinning like a fool when she got a text and incessantly checking her phone for messages from him. Her heart pounded, yes pounded, when she glimpsed "Dodger" floating across her screen, and each day was a new topic, a new argument over a book or a new story to share. Rory couldn't help but hope that maybe her self-initiated dry spell with men was over.

A ding sounded from Rory's purse, lying on the bed from where she had thrown it after the bus finally stopped at the hotel they were staying at. Practically running from the bathroom where she was washing her face, she jumped onto the bed, quickly racing to read the message. It read, rather bluntly at that, "So I was thinking, maybe we should try calling each other?" Rory swallowed hard. A phone call? What if her voice sounded weird? She always sounded higher-pitched on the phone, what if he thought a Paris Hilton-esque, squeaky mouse voice was unattractive? More importantly, why was she worried about being unattractive to a guy she'd never met?

Her insecurities were more than a little embarrassing, but how could she not be a little insecure when the possibility of him being legitimately perfect was at hand? She needed a pro/con list, fast. The entire point of this anonymity was to hide distinguishing details for the time being. This was directly offsetting that. That simple balance between intrusiveness and basic questions was gradually tipping on the intrusive side. She now knew his favorite color (green), movie (Almost Famous), and that he worked at a place involving books. He in turn knew her favorite food, her secret love for Indian food and that she wrote. Vague details that were adding up, coupled with a phone call? Was that risk she wanted to take?

It was.

She couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed as she dialed the numbers into the phone. (And what was up with that? Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?)

He answered on the first ring, a confident "Hey, Tease."

Oh. Maybe that's why.

* * *

Jess Mariano was not a risk-taker, generally. Years of growing up in New York taught him that risks were not a safe bet, in any situation. Gambling, trying a new drug, jumping off ridiculously high things, all he tended to avoid. But this girl, Booktease, made him want to take risks. He wanted to talk to her, meet her, take her out on a date. The only issue seemed to be Booktease herself. She was perhaps even less of a risk-taker than himself, something he both liked and detested at the same time. Jess had this need to break her of her shell, force her to take a risk with him. Maybe it was the bad boy in him that wanted to wreak havoc on this seemingly perfect girl, (dirty and otherwise) but all he knew was that he craved the sound of her voice in his ear.

He'd long since admitted to himself that he was attracted to her, or at least the idea of her. That was half the problem, however. How could he be certain he liked someone he had never met? He knew it was a completely rushed connection, and the logical side of him was trying to convince him out of doing anything rash, but the other part of him wanted her to stand in front of him now. If he really was open to himself, he might admit that this was the first time he'd really connected with a woman since Ro-...her. And that terrified him. He'd played it pretty safe since she had up and broke his heart (or had he broken her heart last? They'd hurt each other so many times he could barely remember whose turn it was now). So when this online persona of mystery invaded his life, he had raised his guard, but it didn't take long for him to lower it. Now he found himself dropping everything the moment he heard a chirp from his cell phone. The pitying looks he got from Chris and Matt were almost humiliating, if he hadn't been too wrapped up in her to care.

Jess' obsessive need to run when things got messy hadn't kicked in yet, and he prayed that it wouldn't ever, not with her. Unless she was horribly unattractive, in which case, Jess was shallow enough to admit, he could have to let her go, at least in the dating sense. He was not that kind of a person to date an ugly woman, which sounded horrible, but many would agree with. Looks were a part of any equation, it really didn't matter who you are, or so Jess believed.

Putting his book, Prozac Nation, aside for the moment, Jess picked up his phone. Gathering his courage, he typed a message up to her, asking her to consider the possibility of a phone call. He sent it before he could question himself, and settled back into his couch. "Please don't let her be ugly," he prayed aloud.

A mere minute later, his phone began to ring, startling him out of his reverie. A cocky grin appeared on his face, calming his wildly beating heart. "James Dean, Frank at the Sands, be cool," he muttered to himself before answering with a self-satisfied "Hey, tease."

Her voice carried over the line, a soft "Hey," that he couldn't help but smile at. She sounded so nervous, matching the emotion that was racking him, which made his need to hear more come from her. "So, the infamous Booktease finally speaks!" He heard her giggle at this, and could practically see her nodding before realizing he couldn't see her and replying, "Infamous, huh?"

Her voice was slightly distorted by the poor reception of the hotel and the overall cheap quality of the phone, but despite all the things wrong with the technology they used, he could hear the shy, but wavering on confident tone of Booktease. It almost reminded him of Her, and a pang shot through him before he reminded himself that this situation wasn't about Her, it was about Tease and himself. For once, he wanted to leave Her out of this, keep one memory untainted from Her grip. She had already ruined various bands (The Distillers), half of his wardrobe (shirts she'd complimented and occasionally stolen), movies, and more importantly, coffee. He hadn't been a huge fan, (more of a tea guy himself) but now he couldn't even stand the smell without thoughts of Her. Was it so wrong of him to want to leave She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out of this, for once? To have something that wasn't purged with memories of her?

No, it wasn't. He snapped back to reality, catching the tail-end of what Tease had said, and brushing all thoughts of an ex-girlfriend with Bambi eyes that could have convinced him to do anything out of his head.


End file.
